[To see photos and stories of the savanna in other years, see the links on the main Twisted Oak Savanna page.]

This is the year we started our serious work on the savanna.

6/10/2013  This is what the old aspen woods had grown into – tall, thick, impenetrable brush – mostly honeysuckle, gray dogwood, and prickly ash.

 

9/16/2013  The places we had cleared and now mow annually look much more like savanna.

 

9/16/2013

 

9/16/2013  Tinker’s Weed (Triosteum perfoliatum)

 

10/13/2013  This is the big, open-grown oak that we picked to start with.  We decided to ‘liberate’ it.

 

10/13/2013  The first step – cutting and piling the brush around the oak.

 

10/25/2013

 

10/26/2013  That was so much fun that we kept going.

 

10/26/2013

 

10/27/2013

 

11/1/2013

 

11/1/2013

 

11/1/2013

 

11/3/2013

 

11/10/2013

 

11/10/2013

 

11/10/2013

 

11/10/2013  We made it all the way to Ragwort Opening – the small prairie opening at the right edge of the photo.

 

11/10/2013  This is the view looking north along the path.  The west side (left) is looking more open – there’s still a lot to do on the east side of the path.

 

11/10/2013  Looking north with Ragwort Opening at the end.

 

11/10/2013  Our brush pile has gotten bigger.

 

11/25/2013

 

11/30/2013  We learned how much fun it is to compare ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos.  This was taken before we’d cleared this area.

 

11/30/2013  This was taken later that same day – after we’d cleared around the big oak.

 

12/1/2013

 

12/1/2013  This is at the south edge of the cleared savanna.

 

12/14/2013  The snow arrived, so we’re finished with that project until next year.